03.04.2008

Suspended platform collapse takes three

Three construction workers were presumed to have drowned on Wednesday after a suspended work platform that had been installing water pipe under the deck of the Interstate 430 bridge fell 30 metres into the Arkansas River near Little Rock, Arkansas.
Please register to see all images

A crane lifts the fallen platform from the river

The 12 metre long platform contained the three men, two generators and a welding machine when it fell.

The body of one of the three was discovered when a crane lifted the fallen platform out of the river. The sheriff's office, said that the body was entangled in rope that was attached to the platform when it was raised.

So far there has been no sign of the other two men, while none of the three have been named they were all reported to be from Texas. The men were employed by Oscar Renda Contracting of Roanoke, Texas and were installing two lines of 750mm diameter waterlines across the underside of the bridge.

The river, swollen from recent rains, was moving too swiftly for divers to search the waters — a problem that also makes an extensive search for the two missing workers unlikely.

The installations are part of a $43 million project to increase the local utility's capacity to deliver water to systems on the north side of the river.